Crafting, fun and friendship

Wednesday, 27 May 2015

I know Julia will be the first to say that WOYWW isn't about her - it's all down to us, those lovely bloggers who join up each week. And that's partly true. But you still need a lynch pin and we wouldn't be anywhere without Julia would we? Someone who has posted and linked for 6 years (and who emails and texts behind the scenes too)

There would be no WOYWW without you, lovely gal and we appreciate what you do.

THANK YOU :-)You may have noticed that I've altered the banner at the top of my blog for today's occasion! And my desk is especially 'creative' today, fitting in with the global deskosity!

It looks like I've pulled out every scrap I possess - ahh, if that were only the case. This is but a teeny portion of my stash......cough...... I'm making small things for a fundraiser. Helen, my friend from the accordion orchestra, is having a stall to raise funds for her church in Hungerford. I thought I'd make some lavender bags, tissue covers etc. Helen made some of her beautiful butterfly pictures for the Crop, so I thought I'd return the honour......

I've made quite a few of these before but never though to attach a little loop of ribbon. I rather like it - why does giving something a tag-like label give it extra cachet??

Some hearts and lavender bags mid-construction. It's a great way to use up small scraps of lace and ribbons too....plus some new stash. That lovely green wooden flower is from a selection given to me by my mate Sally :-)

You get two desks for the price of one today! I was having a quiet five minutes outside on Monday, cup of peppermint tea and my knitting box to hand, watching the bl*%$y sparrows having dust baths between my lettuce seedlings! I'd got all the constituent parts of two Hooters made, they just needed sewing up.....

A pair of Hooters (!!) ready to fly off somewhere.......

I'm excited to see who my swap partner will be! But I do have about 10 ATCs left after the Crop, if anyone would like to swap :-)

Wednesday, 20 May 2015

You don't really want to see my desk, do you? I know what you're here for :-)

A great pic of some gorgeous gals on a truly fabulous day! For this and loads of other photos, see my previous post.

Chat, cake, crafting, cake, chat, cake.......lunch.......chat, cake...well, you get the idea! And smack in the middle of this pic was CraftyGasheadZo, the birthday girl herself, who was having a 40th celebration week!

We all signed this fab card, which had been made by Shaz Silverwolf, and gave her a prezzy made, nay drilled, by the fair hands of Julia. It's to put pens or glue bottles in...I dunno, you're asking the wrong person here - as you all know by now, I'm a fabricoholic!

Which means I get to show you this!

I had a bit of a sewing splurge last week. I took a couple of these to the Crop (thanks for buying one Debbie!), the one at the back has gone for Zoe's fundraising and the others will come for prezzies. I just couldn't stop making them!!

Cor, I love this combination of floral and spots - I know I showed you this last week but it bears repeating. I don't know if I can give this one away....but I already have two like this. What a dilemma....sigh :-)

And with careful cutting, there was just enough apple green to make this mini craft tote. I might have to keep this one too!!

And that's it for this week - the Crop post sapped my strength ;-) Suffice to say that we have to thank all the lovely folk who came for their incredible generosity. We made £127 for Zoe's Hypermobility charity and I came home piled high with toiletries for the Salisbury Womens' Refuge. We really did share the love :-)

Sunday, 17 May 2015

Firstly, can I thank not only Shaz and Doug Silverwolf, but also my menfolk, Gordon and Rhys, for all their help in setting up/clearing up for the Crop. It made life so much easier and you were all stars!!

It was so lovely to see Shaz, who came down even though she and Doug had to leave early to attend his sister's wedding! Now THAT'S dedication to the cause :-) Also, it was such a treat to welcome Dolores (Cardarian) who was able to come after her DBF's operation was unfortunately cancelled earlier in the week, Silver lining and all that!

But it wasn't just us girlies attending that day - so did some menfolk! I have to make special thanks to Mr Pear Shaped Chris and Mr Morti for doing sterling service in the washing up department. Thanks guys, your help was much appreciated!!

Morti had brought along her grandfather's cornet to show us..she'd discovered it while sorting out her mum's attic. It was really unusual, with piston disc valves that I've never seen on a brass instrument before.

But what none of us knew was that Dolores' DBF had been a bugler in his younger days and he managed to get a few notes out of it!

As it was Zoes' 40th Birthday week, she was presented with a card from us all and a prezzy made by Julia, after we serenaded her with Happy Birthday!

A fab pic of Zoe with her card - made by Shaz Silverwolf - there were lots of references to Bristol Rovers, who are playing at Wembley today. Zoe, who's a major fan, is there, supporting her team. With her gorgeous bright blue hair!! Which really suits you Zoe!

There's loads of space to spread out in Burbage Village hall - with space to the left for tables to sit and eat. It's a great venue!

Dolores and Mary Anne were both making ATCs like fury....their hands were a blur!!

Mary Anne's ATC involved some geometry and a pop up box...she's a clever gal!

Dolores' ATCs were so bright and colourful - I picked one whose colours reminded me of India. Completely gorgeous :-)

Now then...write your own caption for this pic! Hettie and Kyla were sniggering at this point. Juicy gossip, maybe??

Margaret, Debbie and Fiona happily crafted away all day.......

But the best, most wonderful surprise was when Janet Fairythoughts and The Handyman turned up after lunch. Janet has been so poorly, we weren't expecting to see her and we were all thrilled when they walked through the door. It was so fab to see her...note the very large pile of chocolate cake there...she deserves it. Janet brought loads of things to give away...coaster, little books, bracelets...all lovely keepsakes :-)

Cindy was beavering away, making the prettiest flowers. So simple but really gorgeous!

PearshapedChris was working away at a beautiful journal page - love the colours!

Great pic of the the three gals!

Helen was making this lovely journal page and Cindy had the bright idea of getting everyone to sign it, to mark the day. That's a nice touch.....

Meanwhile the Birthday Girl and her best mate, Lisa, were having fun doing their thing!

And this was the sewing corner!! Fiona was handsewing some gorgeous little patchwork hexies, Lisa Jane was whizzing along, making her first craft apron and Morti was doing the most exquisite cross stitch......

Fiona, you have WAY more patience than me to do all that gorgeous hand stitching......

Morti, this sampler is just beautiful, so pretty and detailed.....

And Lisa Jane just made me smile with the sheer joy and fun for conquering some sewing fears!! In fact, she was the first one to bring a machine to the Crop....

Sewing at the Bar! Lol...best place.....she was whizzing through....

Woohoo - you rock, girl! Love the craft apron you made :-)

And Hettie's Christmas and Amsterdam albums were ASTONISHING! Simply amazing....

People were so generous with what they bought to raise funds for Zoe's charity. I must thank my friend Helen and her mum Brenda who came to support us too. Helen brought three beautiful butterfly pictures (which I completely forgot to take a pic of...sorry) for the fundraising. Hope you enjoyed seeing what went on, girls :-)

Zoe, cutting her amazing Bristol Rovers cake! We're proud to report that we made £127 at the Crop for Zoe's Hypermobility fundraising....thank you to ALL the ladies and gents who supported the raffle, bought items and made the journey to come in the first place!! It was a fab day - and as always, many thanks to Julia, without whom we'd never have got to know all you lovely folk.

Wednesday, 13 May 2015

Well, after a blank spell on my desk, quite a lot has been made over the past week! I took notice of something that Julia wrote...ie no-one's going to make time for you...be selfish occasionally and do what you want to. So I did :-)

I enjoyed making this bunting for Maya, a new grand-daughter of friends of mine. Pretty colours, buttons, ribbons, lace and....

....butterflies! Gotta be done :-)

Then I found some scraps of furnishing fabric in my stash and realised that some of them went together very well, though you wouldn't have thought it at first.

I've had the stripes and spots for ages but the floral is fairly recent. However, the colours tone really well. There was just enough to make a patchwork tote....

I even found some red spot that I thought would clash horribly but it didn't. Here's a pocket in the making.....

It works quite well - I might take this plus a couple of other things to the Crop :-)

I love this flowery fabric - chintzy patterns are usually my last option, but this one is fresh and pretty. And I already had this apple green spotty for the lining....

Gosh, I adore this combo. A zipped craft bag is in the offing, I think!

I don't know if I'll get much more done this week as there's a lot of food shopping and cooking to be done for the Crop on Saturday. I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone again. There'll be lots of chatting. eating cake and maybe some crafting going on. Sounds like the perfect day, lol!!!

Wednesday, 6 May 2015

Hello, lovely WOYWWers - I hope you're having a good week. Hasn't it zoomed by? I have hardly done any crafting at all, I'm afraid, so the desk is pitiful.....

I've got as far as pulling out some scraps from my fat quarters box as I'll be making some bunting for a new granddaughter of friends in band....but haven't actually done anything with them! You can see a new purchase - that lovely denimy blue spot was bought in Fabricland last week...it's a great all-rounder, perfect for lining bags :-) And the white spool on top of it is a 25 metre long reel of white bias binding, which I use as bunting tape. Sally bought for me as a thank you for the little bag I made her!

And that, as they say, is that! I've had other, more pressing, things to do.... a trip down to Wales to see my dad, compiling the newsletter for the brass band I'm in....oh and playing all day on Sunday.

Here's the band, arranged on a lorry trailer! We're playing Moon River featuring a beautiful Flugelhorn solo by Chloe. I'm just off the right hand edge at the moment, lol! That lorry cover saved us from the worst of the elements cos it chucked it down on and off throughout the day. But the band played on......grin!

Ah, there I am! Parping my bass. And yes, I AM full of hot air ;-)

I love the Lambourn Spring Working - the show we were at. It's not a posh day at all, more down to earth than some of the events we play at. There were lots of animals on show but it was a little corner in the chicken tent that caught my eye.....

I think the craft group had been shoved in there to get out of the elements! There were some beautiful spinning wheels.....

These lovely ladies tried hard to get me to join their group...but I had to explain that my life is pretty full already. I simply can't take on anything else! They were a fun bunch though :-)

This lady was spinning with tufts of coloured rovings to make a variegated yarn - that was clever!!

This loom had been set up for anyone to have a try. Can you see that there are different woven patterns - all by changing the elements. The lady did explain but I can't remember it all now!

And this gentleman was just setting up what looked like a ginormous French Knittting reel, but I had to return to play before I could ask him...drat....and I never got to go back. It'll have to remain a mystery :-)

So, I have shown you some crafting...just not necessarily mine ;-) LOL